"I bought five pieces of fruit cake."
Translation:我买了五块水果蛋糕。
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Is this the rich, heavy fruit cake that in the UK would be made with dried fruit such as currants, sultanas and raisins and served at Christmas? Or does it mean a cake that has fresh fruit on it - which would probably be called a fruit gateau in the UK (and more usually would be on pastry and called a fruit tart)? I don't mind translating it as 'fruit cake' but I would like to know what I would get if I asked for it in China!
Where should the 了go? Sometimes I've seen it after the verb, sometimes after the object
了 has two correct options, depending on the sentence.
Firstly, the given translation contains 了 placed next to the verb, which identifies the action done past.
Secondly, if you place 了 on the right, this also expresses the same thing. The sentence then becomes 我买五块水果蛋糕了。However, the sentence can emphasize "change of state", which has more general meaning.
Could you understand the place of the 了 as:
我买了五块蛋糕 I bought (action done) 5 pieces of cake. 我买五块蛋糕了 I bought 5 pieces of cake already. (to accentuate that you've bought quite a lot)?